72-year-old ‘shocked’ over ALDI check-out scam

An ALDI customer has issued a warning after coming across a potential scam at the discount grocery store’s checkout.

The 72-year-old customer shared her experience on a popular Facebook group, Aldi Fans Australia, claiming the man behind her snuck some of his groceries in with hers.

The shopper noticed items like a bottle of whiskey and a men’s belt had been rung up with her groceries, saying that she believes the man in line behind her targeted her for her age and was “watching his items being charged to me.”

“I believe the following was a scam in action,” she wrote on Facebook.

“As my things were going through the checkout I noticed a bottle of whisky, a men’s belt and something else.

“I told the cashier to stop as these weren’t mine as the guy was watching his items being charged to me.

“She was flustered, I was flustered and the guy wouldn’t eyeball me. He knew exactly what he was doing.

“To cut a long story short, she cancelled then charged me for the whisky (I had to go back and was reimbursed).

“I believe the guy did this purposely to confuse both the cashier and my senior self and I also believe he got the whisky free in the confusion.”

The customer said she was left “shocked and flustered” by the ordeal.

“The cashier was trying to do the right thing,” she said.

“I think he was trying it on and knew exactly what he was doing.

“I think the guy picked me at 72 and a vulnerable-looking cashier.”

Other members of the Facebook group commented on their own similar experiences.

“I had an older woman try to do that to me. She actually took the divider off the belt and added her things to mine then was putting them in her bag after they had been scanned,” one said.

Commented a second: “This is what they do. Make a scene trying to confuse everyone then walk out with their stuff. I’ve seen this happen before but not at ALDI.”

 Other users said the incident may have just been an honest mistake.

“This happens so many times a day. Probably just didn’t use a divider and it was a mistake. I work at ALDI,” one wrote.

According to the latest data from Scamwatch Aussies aged 65 years and older were the main scam victims in 2021, losing $49.1 million and accounting for 23 per cent of the total losses for the year. Australians reported a total loss of $211 million in 2021 to scams.

Scamwatch advises reporting any scams to them to ensure relevant parties are made aware of the scams and preventative action can be put in place.